I had an awesome time yesterday, but I have to get back to my school work, so I'll do this very quickly. It was Incandescence's first show ever. They're a really good local black metal duo (Phil Boucher from First Fragment and a singer), mixing the traditional sound with progressive and low dissonant elements. For their stage debut, they had recruited three session musicians, including the young prodigy Phil Tougas from First Fragment/Chthe'ilist/Vengeful, whose stage presence (and hair) were just massive. The sound wasn't perfect - for example, the snare was buried by the cymbals - and the frontman lacked conviction, but it was excellent for a first show. Check them out!

Next were the Baie-Comeau traditional patriotic black metallers Neige Éternelle; AKA pure boredom. Their riffs are extremely generic rip-offs from the classic bands and the vocals suck. Often, the vocalist tried to burst out some DSBM screams - and failed, making his performance even more pathetic. At least, they were angry. It was actually funny: they kept calling us Montrealers pussies for not moshing and giving everyone the middle finger. It kinda gave a rustic feel to their performance, but it didn't keep me from drowsing.

The last local band was one of my personal favourites from our black metal scene: Csejthe from Quebec City. Named after the castle of Elizabeth Bathory, they play a unique, majestic form of the genre. The lead guitarist uses his instrument like a violinist or a cellist would; he incessantly tremolo-picks beautiful, melancholic and memorable melodies, while the lead vocalist does the lower, heavier chords. In addition to that, the lead guitarist and the drummer often reinforce the melodies with ethereal, solemn clean singing that contrasts with the depressive screams. For the first few songs, they had sound issues: the rhythm guitar and the clean vocals were inaudible. Fortunately, this all got fixed quickly. The ambiance was spectral; they had candles and the smoke and light effects just made it more hypnotizing. If you like depressive, melodic or epic black metal, I highly recommend that you listen to this band: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPIsSJ9c1ns.

After that breathtaking performance, we had some time to rest, that we had to use wisely, since Absu was about to tear the place to shreds. They were fucking fantastic. Out of the three times I've seen them, I believe this one was the best. Their stage presence was enormous; I was particularly impressed by Ezezu. His vocals have improved a lot since the last time, gaining velocity, precision and, thus, evilness. There were stunning moments where he and Proscriptor tag-teamed the lyrics with so much chemistry; it was unbelievable. Speaking of Proscriptor, he was stellar as always on the drums, especially for the songs from Tara, which must be bitches to play. His in-between-songs speeches, screamings and theatrical moves were also hilarious as always. This guy is an incredible showman. The guitarist, Vis Crom, also was imposing, nailing the complex riffs and song structure perfectly while keeping an aggressive presence. About that, the band was fucking pissed off and it only made their show more intense, and a performance of this kind always reflects on the crowd, which was exalted. Everyone was headbanging, screaming and fist-pumping like we were in at a heavy metal show in the 80's. I've always said that Absu is a heavy metal band desguised as black metallers and I've got my confirmation yesterday. For Stone of Destiny, Proscriptor yielded his drumkit to a session musician and he came back with a fur coat and even more epic moves than he usually bursts out. He wielded the mic stand like a wizard's staff, commanding the crowd like a general. He looked like he was having so much fun, it was beautiful. After they were finished with the second part of the Tara album, they left the stage, but the crowd didn't feel like leaving. We chanted and yelled until they changed their minds and came back to play the thrashing anthem "The Coming of War", which immediately breeded chaos in the venue. The final pits were the best of the night. Absu's performance was a blast as always, only better. These guys never disappoint; they bring one of the most fun live shows on Earth. I can't wait for the next album, Apzu!

Hey, I'm sorry but they didn't have any paper setlist and I only recognized half the songs they played, so I won't be postiong the sets. I really enjoyed Today Is the Day (Steve had one of the angriest stage shows I've ever seen), but I actually was there for Fight Amp and KEN mode, from whom I recognized most of the songs. KEN mode was the best band of the night. Here are the sets if you're interested:

Fight Amp

Dead Is Dead
Shallow Grave
I'm Out
Bad Listener I (with Andrew from KEN mode)
Get High and Fuck

KEN mode

Mako Shark
The Promises of God
No; I'm in Control
The Hammer Party
The Goat
Counter Culture Complex
The Terror Pulse